Press Release – Serious Fraud Office
A former managing director and a former general manager from the retail gas industry were sentenced in the Wellington District Court today to prison terms in relation to Crimes Act charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office.

Ronald Peter Rosenberg (72) and Sydney Lio Hunt (46) were found guilty in April of dishonestly using documents involving at least $9.75 million of fraud.

Mr Rosenberg has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and $400,000 reparation and Mr Hunt has been sentenced to three and a half years’ imprisonment.

The investigation uncovered that between April 2005 and October 2008 Mr Rosenberg and Mr Hunt deliberately under-reported the quantity of gas supplied to its retail customers by approximately 950,000 gigajoules.

SFO Director, Julie Read said, “We hope that these sentences send a message that dishonesty, fraud and the manipulation of industry rules on the part of employees in positions of responsibility and trust will not be taken lightly and penalties will be imposed upon those who abuse their authority.”